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<p><SPAN class="panel-title"> Authors: Stop Blocking Your Own Potential! -- BayCon 2012 </SPAN> <SPAN class="dateline"> 27.05.2012 11.30h </SPAN></p>
<ul class="taglist">
<li class="tags">
Creativity
</li>
<li class="tags">
Platform
</li>
<li class="tags">
Writing Process
</li>
<li class="tags">
Writer's Block
</li>
<li class="tags">
Revision
</li>
</ul>
<BR/>
<DIV class="intro">
For years the publishing industry has pushed and pulled authors into &quot;marketable&quot; categories that they can quantify, but today's readers are looking for something different. As long as you believe in your work and the enjoyment that it brings to you and those like you, give it to the masses. Figure out who you are, what you want the world to see, and commit to it! Then figure out how to reach people like you and go out and sell books!
</DIV>

<DIV class="panelists">
<p>PANELIST:<BR/></p>
<ul>
<li>Brandon Sanderson
</DIV>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="notes">Notes</h3>
<div class="notes">
<p>Conflict hook: &quot;That's cool, but what if something goes wrong.&quot;</p>
<p>Character hook: What is the soul of the character?</p>
<p>Setting hook: Visuals. Magic System.</p>
<p>The hero losing the battle is a good idea, but a terrible idea in the story itself. Instead, use it as background for a story.</p>
<p>Getting over writer's block:</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>Something's wrong with the story. Fix the problem, if you can. If you can't, just keep carrying on. FINISH it. Goal now is to find your writer voice/process.</li>
<li>Take one day off a week, and write something disposable (don't worry about its value, put it away for future) writing something poorly still has its value -- the writer's mind still works on it.<br /></li>
<li>Shake up your habits (e.g., go to writing longhand, try dictating your work).<br /></li>
<li>Go on a hike</li>
</ol>
<p>Living in another culture can be very helpful -- Brandon was an LDS missionary and was allowed one day/week to write.</p>
<p>&quot;Your first five books are often terrible.&quot; -- but not always, some people have good second books.</p>
<p>Keep experimenting</p>
<p>Focus on what you are excited about -- don't major in English</p>
<p>Add layers to your characters -- try the dossier method (&quot;character sheets&quot; a la RPG) -- life aside from the story.</p>
<p>Don't design your character just for a role in the work. Ask what does the character want, aside from the plot? They have a life outside the plot. What would the character <em>never</em> tell anyone else about?</p>
<p>Mix up the stereotypes (e.g, a 'wise elder' type role filled by a 14 year old girl).</p>
<p>Avoid your own biases -- read authors with different viewpoints from your own. Offer a strong argument, especially if the character is not in tune with the other characters. Have strong characters on all sides.</p>
<p>Your job as a writer is to present many differing perspectives. Read forum posts from different points of view.</p>
<p>Get readers from other perspectives.</p>
<p>Look up primary sources</p>
<h3 id="social-media">Social media</h3>
<p>Social media are a snakepit.</p>
<p>Building a platform has made the career of many writers, John Scalzi, Joe Conrad.<br />But don't <em>just</em> do the platform. It can easily take up as much time as your writing. Let books be a part of it, you must find a balance. Can you write well, in an engaging way, in a blog format? It could drive sales.</p>
<p>The goal is ideally 2 books/year, one bigger work and one smaller, more &quot;pulpy&quot; work, more straightforward. The shorter work can be self-published, and ideally the long one from a major publisher.</p>
<p>Blogs (and Twitter and Facebook) are not <em>as</em> important as traditional publishing. And don't just ask for sales in your site. You must have something engaging and interesting to write about. Newer writers need something that's <em>not them</em> to write about. If you are really serious, 4-8 hr/week + editing is a minimum. 250-500 works/hr. is an average for many wrters. If you can't put in 8 hours a week -- reconsider your intent to write. That would allow one 100k novel/year. And when you have less creative engergy, editing takes much less of that. Editing does not tap &quot;the well&quot; nearly as much as active original writing.</p>
<p>Brandon found always going forward useful -- do the ediitng after all is done in one draft.</p>
<ul>
<li>Finish work. (1st Draft)</li>
<li>Revise with major changes(2nd Draft)<br /></li>
<li>Polish, removing 7-8% of words. (3rd draft)</li>
<li>Put aside, get critique</li>
<li>Wait (to give you perspective)</li>
</ul>
<p>4th, and 5th drafts, revise with critique in mind 6th draft-7th draft, fix smaller and smaller issues.<br />Last pass -- fix passive voice, and &quot;Show, Don't Tell&quot;.</p>
<p>The danger for 'discovery writers' is that in revision, they lose momentum when rewriting before the finish.<br />'Gardeners' difficulty is in ending. A little structure helps a lot.</p>
<p>Some people will write the last chapter first.</p>
<p>'Architects' risk is not being flexible enough -- they must learn to change along the way. Their other risk is not getting to writing.</p>
Alpha readers can look at prose not yet finished and see version 2.0. Beta readers can look at it and only see 4.0.<br />
</DIV>

<h3 id="blogs">Blogs</h3>
<DIV class='bibliography'>
<a href="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/">Newbie's Guide to Publishing</a>
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